Rep. Fasano Calls for Resignation
of Entire Citizens Board
1/18/2013
By: Gray Rohrer
The Florida Current
Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wants all seven members of the Citizens
Property Insurance Corp. board to resign immediately.
The move comes in the wake of a report released this week by
Gov. Rick Scott’s inspector general criticizing
Citizens board members and senior management for lavish spending while traveling
abroad.
“Citizens is continually looking for ways to increase premiums, reduce coverage
and push its customers out. At the same time board members and executives are
traveling literally around the world, staying at the finest hotels and dining on
first class food, all at its customers’ expense,” Fasano said in a prepared
statement.
Scott asked his inspector general to look into Citizens’ travel spending after a
Miami Herald article was published in August detailing exorbitant hotel
stays and meals. Officials stayed at $600-per-night rooms and racked up
$200-plus dinners.
The inspector general report notes that none of the spending was in violation of
Citizens’ existing policies, but would have violated travel spending rules for
state workers and recommended the state-run company adhere to the standards for
state workers.
“We believe that the examples contained in this report, while incurred within
the parameters outlined in Citizens’ written policies in place at the time, are
excessive by state standards, this type of spending will continue to occur if
Citizens does not follow state travel laws,” the report states.
A spokeswoman for Citizens did not immediately return phone calls and emails for
comment.
Citizens president and CEO Barry Gilway, who was appointed in June, instituted
stricter travel policies in October after Scott asked his inspector general to
look into the travel expenditures.
“We have reviewed the report’s findings and recommendations and agree that, as
guardians of public funds, we must hold ourselves to a more rigorous standard,”
Gilway said in a prepared statement earlier this week. “As recommended in the
report, Citizens will further tighten our policy to better comply with state
travel standards and reporting requirements.”
Citizens’ travel budget increased nearly doubled, from $1.7 million in 2011 to
almost $3.4 million in 2012. In the current budget, money allotted for travel
has dropped to $1.77 million.
